Complaint filed with FCC alleges WISN, WTMJ radio bias on recall

A liberal watchdog group has filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, charging that bias demonstrated by local radio hosts violates something called the Zapple Doctrine, requiring equal time not just for candidates but their supporters. »Read Full Blog Post

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ABC, CBS, NBC and Public Broadcasting always offer both sides of the story and NEVER promote candidates on the airwaves or demonize one side or the other. If so they would loose their license which is what will happen if Clear Channel and Journal Communications and others left or right ignore the rules of broadcasting.CNN FOX MSNBC are cable subscriptions and don't apply here.

according to this filing these stations don't have the right to say what they want? they must say things that they do not believe in and have people on that they do not want to? sounds to me like they are trying to take away the free speech rights of these stations.

How is this even remotely close to "trying to take away the free speech rights of these stations"??? They're not trying to change a SINGLE WORD of what's been said or is going to be said in the future, they're just saying that equal time needs to be given to opposing views too so EVERYBODY can exercise their free speech rights.

by forcing a station to go against what they believe. if a station does not want to support one side the should not be "FORCED" to they should have the freedom to say and give air time to whom ever they want.

Correct. It's not a free speech issue. Everything is a free speech issue to simple minded right wingers. Black and white. Ask Bill O'Reilly who famously said he has to speak in simple black and white terms for his audience to understand and be appropriately outraged.

The stations don't have to AGREE with opposing points of view, they just need to offer some equal time before an election. I'd bet these radio shows would have an even bigger audience (and might even have more to offer) if there was healthy debate between two hosts with opposing views as opposed to the host and callers ranting about the same things over and over and over...

"Ask Bill O'Reilly who famously said he has to speak in simple black and white terms for his audience to understand"

Once again, a lefty takes an O'Reilley quote and lies about it. With Bill's self-deprecating style, he often says, "You know I'm a simple man, so let's break down the facts so even I can understand them".

Bill has said many times in the past that his audience is very aware of what's going on. Gilligan... try dealing with the truth for a change instead of your twisted versions.

Biffet, you are spreading false notions. The airwaves are owned by the public. Broadcasters merely buy a license to use the public airwaves. One of the conditions they agree to when buying that license is to grant opposing views access to the airwaves.

You can compare that to the software on computers. Most of the time you buy a license to use it. You do not buy the software itself. Try giving a copy to someone else (and tell the regulators) and see what happens. Or music. The artists (or their agents) own it, you just buy a license to use it.

Biffet, yes, the station has the freedom to say what they want an put on the people the want. According to the terms of the the license they bought that lets the borrow the public airwaves, they agreed to give opposing viewpoints roughly equal access to those airwaves.

over 50 million people a day tune in to talk radio. It is not in the "public interest" to promote one political point of view, left or right, during an election. That is what this action is all about. By willfully promoting Walker and by demonizing Barrett they proved the case against them. This is not news. Period, Talk radio is a partisan political format unlike NPR which always has opposing alternative pundits discussing every issue along with all the boring stuff they broadcast like studies on trees and bugs etc.

There's no denying that the entire country has become less informed, more "outraged", and more polarized on the right since the fairness doctrine was repealed and right wing talk radio took over our public airwaves.

Right Wing Radio took over the airwaves? What are you smoking. Remember "Air America"? P.S. They are not public airwaves. Like everything else they are regulated by the government. They are private businesses, don't like what they put on buy your own station and put on whatever you like!

So true. Try buying a radio station. Can't do it. The big signals are bought and paid for by big Republican money to promote: Republican agendas like "corporations are persons" money is speech, facts are only opinions,history is not true. science is a liberal conspiracy. The dumbing down of this country began when Reagan ( no genius) revoked the fairness doctrine And radio requires a license to operate on the public airwaves not cable that is a subscription. To keep the license a broadcaster must serve the "public interest" Calling Sykes or Limbaugh or Beck news isa joke played on all of us. It is turning Republicans into misinformed angry people who actually believe the crap they hear from these guys.